Posts Categorized: Consumer Technology

Not only are light bulbs getting sharper and more energy efficient as they are upgraded to LEDs, but they increasingly help fight crime, promote safe cycling and even protect turtles. That’s because street lights are also becoming the eyes and ears of “smart” cities. Lamp posts double as data collectors, communicating with a central control… Read more »

When cybersecurity firm Imperva asked one of its banking clients how many apps it thought its staff were using, the firm estimated between 75 and 100 in total. The figure was actually closer to 800. Why does this matter? Source: BBC Technology News Date: October 18th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37541594 Discussion 1) “Cloud-based apps often gain access to the… Read more »

Customers at Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest may soon be sorting out issues with help from a virtual chatbot. Web-based Luvo will be able to answer simple queries such as how to order a replacement card. Designed using IBM Watson technology, the virtual agent is able to understand and learn from human interactions. Source: BBC… Read more »

Is the smartphone app doomed? To look at the stats you wouldn’t think so: Apple has two million of them in its App Store and Google Play has a few hundred thousand more than that. Total app downloads have passed the 150 billion mark. But some are wondering whether apps are about to be replaced… Read more »

Fifteen million people in the UK [that’s about a quarter] are disrupting their sleep patterns by looking at their mobile phones and other devices, with a third of them checking for messages at night and more than a sixth replying to them. Source: BBC Business Date: October 4th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37471676 Discussion 1) How might this behavior impact… Read more »

Got a new iPhone 7 already? Or are you hesitating because Apple lost that headphone jack and everyone’s complaining about it? Fear not, apparently you can just drill a hole in the phone, plug in your old headphones and you’re good to go. Of course this won’t work – seriously, don’t do it – but… Read more »

Messaging app firm Snapchat has announced its first gadget – sunglasses with a built-in camera. The device, which the company is calling Spectacles, will go on sale later this year priced at $130. The glasses will record up to 30 seconds of video at a time. Source: BBC Date: September 28th, 2016 Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37460682 Discussion 1) Why might Snap(chat) succeed… Read more »

It is a deal that could mark the moment e-sports enters the big league. The US owners of a famous basketball franchise and investors in Premier League club Crystal Palace have snapped up two of the leading e-sports teams. The Philadelphia 76ers have acquired Team Dignitas and Apex, and will merge them into what the… Read more »

Reinhard and a team of 18 scientists and researchers dove into No Man’s Sky when it launched on Sony PlayStation 4 and PC, treating it like an archaeological site, only one built with columns of code instead of columns of marble. ​Reinhard calls this “archaeogaming,” or the study of archaeology inside a video game’s world. Source: CBC News Date: September 27th, 2016 Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/no-mans-sky-archaeology-1.3768986… Read more »

There are two huge topics of discussion in Silicon Valley right now. The first is “Who will win the level 4 autonomy race, Tesla or Uber?,” and the second is “Is Apple in trouble?” Source: LinkedIn Pulse Date: September 20th, 2016 Link: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/six-reasons-smart-folks-worried-apple-jason-calacanis?trk=eml-b2_content_ecosystem_digest-hero-22-null&midToken=AQH2XEf9DJ0DqA&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=1CMvbpe3qJTno1 Discussion 1) Why does it matter than the #1 company in the U.S. and a… Read more »